Ward's Corner

Ward’s Corner is an early Edwardian building in the London Borough of Haringey. It functioned as a department and furnishing store until 1972.  Since then, it has been threatened with demolition to make way for redevelopment of the area.  The Ward's Corner Community Coalition is made up of local traders, community groups and residents associations who were opposed to a council redevelopment scheme for the site. 

The Ward's Corner Coalition is made up of local traders, community groups and residents associations who were opposed to a council redevelopment scheme for the site currently occupied by the building. 

Ward's Corner, a former Edwardian department store building from which the area gets its name, functions as an indoor market at the apex of Seven Sisters and Tottenham High Road. Built in 1902, it traded as Ward’s Furnishing Store until the building closed in 1972. 

Now partially owned by Transport for London, it is proposed as the first of three projects to regenerate the area. The council proposals include demolishing the locally listed Ward's Corner building to make way for 200 modern homes.

The coalition came together to develop a proposal, which builds on the area’s location, spatial qualities and a role for local people. The Ward’s Corner Community Coalition is fighting to prevent the demolition of public place and displacement of people. They are a grassroots campaign struggling to remove barriers of inequality and reclaim the ‘Right to Place’ and involvement in the planning process.

The Glass-House brought in the help of East Architecture for a two-day design workshop for the Ward’s Corner Coalition. The aim was to enable the group to develop their understanding of the complex planning issues relevant to the regeneration scheme. 

The workshops involved: analysing case studies of other regeneration schemes involving markets; a study visit of the Ward’s Corner building; the group creating a documentary of the area using photographs and interviews to create a shared vision of the area, and model making to visualise different options for Ward’s Corner.

In 2009, over 300 people attended a large public meeting to propose alternative plans for the redevelopment of Ward's Corner. Wards Corner hold regular meetings and have submitted an alternative plan.

The Ward's Corner Coalition finished the process with a variety of resources including the documentary and models which could then be used in their ongoing engagement with any redevelopment of Ward's Corner.

On Tue 22nd June 2010 The Court of Appeal stood by the Community of Tottenham and ruled in our favour, quashing the Grainger application.

Neighbourhoods

2-day bespoke design workshop

The Ward's Corner Community Coalition finished the process with a variety of resources including the documentary and models which could then be used in their ongoing engagement with any redevelopment of Ward's Corner.

East Architects